Fuse.



J. B. SEMPLE.

FUSE.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 10.1915.

1,166,942. Patented Jan. 4, 1916.

I F I G. 1

WITNESSES INVENTOR (ii/Wm fiapasm tion, and which. when the firing-pin is armed ME Q STATESPATENT OFBTTIQE 'a'on'iv is. SEIYIPLE, or- SEWIGKLEY,"PENNSYLVANIA.j I i 5* I ruse.

To altwhom it may concern} Be it known that I, JOHN B.

of the United, Sta'tes, have invented or discovered certain new and useful}Improve-Q ments in Fuses, of which improvements the .lp egena following is a specification. p

My invention relates to' fuses for firing bodies of explosive material and is particularly adapted for use in explosive projectiles firedfrom rifled guns. n V i It is illustrated'in the accompanying'draw ings,in whichi i r Figure 1 showsinlongitudinal central section aprojectile equipped with a fuse of my rinventionaF ig. 2 shows, on the same:

laneof section and onlar er scale. the fusestoc-lgdetached; Fig, 3 is a transverse section,',o'n the plane indicated bythe line III III, Fig. 2; ig. 4 is a view in longitu pin and thecontrolling and operating parts in unarmed position in the plunger. Fig.5

is a viewfin perspective of the centrifugal bolts Whichfirst drive the firing'pin, when released by the locks which. normally 1101a" it unarmed, from unarmed to armed posisupport it in armed position. I

Theprojectile to whichthe invention here applied and for which it is primarily intended is indicated by the numeral 1522 is the body of explosive with which the projec tile is charged; and 3 is the stock, centrally arranged. inthe rear Wall of the projectile, which carries the fuse; essentially of a percussion cape and a firingpin 5, the one stationary and the other movable in the stock. 3. As shown, the cap 1s stationary and the firing-pin is borne in a movable block or plunger 6. A

In order to guard against the premature firing of the percussion cap, the firing pin is made movable in the member which carries it (which member and the cap are made movable, one with respect to the other) from an unarmed to armed position. The construction as thus far explained is shown and described in United States Letters Patent No. 775,861, granted me November 22, 1904. It is with the particular means for controlh Specification of Ifetters Patent.

SE MPLE, ref siding at Sew1ckley,-in the county 0f Alle gheny and State ofrlennsylvama, a citizen The fuse consists in armod-.positio1r when once it has been brought;-thereto, h tq Q when, thefiring-pinjs retracted or unv Patented Jan. @1916; Application area February 10, 1915. Serial no, 7,267.1 S

that my present invention ling the firingpin in its inovmeut from XIII-i j armedto armed posit on'jandi'or holdrng 1t Thefi fing pln 5,5asshown, is afranged in" 7 an axial runway'in plunger 6; A transverse is formed, partlyinplunger 6,. partlylini fi ing pii' 5; ivliicl passageiva'y is continuous andiuiinterrupted when but only armed position. flfhe arrangements" pf this passageway wllllbe 'clearly understood on I.

comparing I igs. 2, 3,iand of the drawings, In this passageway 1s arrangeda pair of spring-held,centrifugally opening locking bolts 8. Normally, whenthe firing-pin ilre tracted'and'the' passageway l thesebolts abut oneagainst another, =1'11 the manner clearly shown in Flgs; 2 and 3; and,"

uninterrupted;

while'ordinarily the meeting plane of these. locking bolts will be coincident or substan t1ally;coincident, withthe center of rotation p of the structureasa'whole when fired from "a rifled gun, the eontiriuity of thepass'age way aiid'theabutnient of the spring backed 7 bolts permitthein to respond as a single u'nitaryjbody to smallfahd acoidental side l shocks, and thus accidental" prema ture rmlocking is guarded against; At the same time, thespringswill always'bringthe bolts .back 'to normal -position after they have] yielded to siich'accidenta'l shocksyand in normal positioirth'ey are ready when submitted to the centrifugal force exerted upon,

them by the projectile in flight, toseparate and recede from so much of the passageway as lies in the firing-pin 5, and by so receding to leave the said firing-pin free to advance t0 armed position. p

From the foregoing explanation 1t will be apparent that the precise arrangement shown of passageway for the locking-bolts is not important; it being important only that the passageway be formed in part in the body of the firingpin, and that the disposition of the passageway itself-be such as to permit the bolts 7 to function in described manner.

To the combination of parts already described are added means for causing the firing-pin, when released by the receding of the locking-bolts, to advance from unarmed to armed position and for maintaining the firing-pin in armed position when once that position has been attained.

'- JIn its broader aspect my invention 'contemplates the use ofany means to serve the ends last defined; but, more specifically, it

includes certain preferred means to that end. These preferred means consist of a i pair of oppositely acting centrifugally movable bolts'9 movable in a-transverserunway they are each-of them provided with a notch 11, an inclined surface 12, and a portion 13 extending transverse-to the directionof pin- .movement. The mnerends of these. two

' bo1ts9 overlap and, as the drawings show,

they may at theirputer ends be cylindrical in shape and at'their-inner ends semi-'cy1indricah The structure as a'whole thus becomes a single. extensible cylinder and elongates in a cylindrioaljrjunway; j The extent of overlapping of the inner ends of these bolts {will change as they perform theirintended function. Normally, when the parts ,are assembled, the firing-pin being locked in its unarmed position, the bolts 9 will be overlapped to the extent indicated. in Fig. 2, the bottom "surfaces 11 of the two notches "corresponding one with another, and'the" filing-pin fii its' lf extending into the two notches so registering one with another.

So long as the firing-pin is'locked in the position shown in Fig. 2 the bolts9 will,.

manifestly, be positively held against anyfunctional movement in their runway. When, however, the projectile is fired from t a rifled gun the same centrifugal force which efl'ects the withdrawal of bolts 8from locking engagement withfiring-pin 5 exerted. upon the bolts 9, whose centers of gravity lie away from the center of the runway and well out toward their extremities, will tend to cause-them to move outwardly.

This tendency, when once the firing-pin is free. of locks 8. will become effective; the

'twoinclined surfaces 13 engag1ng the rear end of the firing-pin 5 will'carry it forward plunger 6-to armed position, as the two my hand,

nicer-aka-- bolts 9 move outward; and, finally, when the bolts 9 reach the outward limit of their movement, the' firing-pin will be. resting upon and supported-by the transversely extending portion 13 ofthe two bolts 9, now

brought to registry. as indicated in Fig. 5. Thereafter, so long'as the projectile rotates, the firing-pm will be maintained positively armed, and upon striking will function by striking percussion cap 4.

While, manifestly, a single bolt 9 would be efiective to accomplish-the ends described, manifestly also a pair of bolts has this ad vantage-that, though a lateral shock, such for example as is sustained when'a flying projectile'strike and ricochets from the surface of the ocean, may displace one of the bolts, one and the same shock cannot displace-both.

I claim as my invention:

1, The combination in a percussion fuse of a supporting body, a firing-pin movable in said body from an unarmed to armed position, a pair of yieldingly-held centrifugally-opening locking-blocks abutting one upon another in a passageway extending without interruption through the body of the plunger and through the unarmed firing-pin, and a pair of centrifugally-operating firing-pin-arming and supporting bolts.

2. In a percusslon fuse, the combination of a supporting body, a longitudinal runway "therein 'two transverse runways intersecting said' longltudinal runway,'a fir1ng-p1n movable in said longitudinal runwayfand Lprovided witha recess registering in the range of. firing-pin movement with one of said transverse runways, a pair of centrifugally-opening locking-bolts in one of said transverse runways, and a pair .of centrif; ugally' acting arming-bolts in the other of said transverse runways.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set JOHN B. SEMPLE.

"Witnesses:' 1

BAYARD H. CHRIs'rY,

Anion A. TRILL.

chines of this patent may be obtained fo at cents each, by addressing t Commissioner of 2mm,

- 5 i Washington, D. G. 

